IF you suffer a cardiac arrest in the centre of Dunfermline during ‘unsocial’ hours, the life-saving device you need may be yards away.

And behind a locked door.

Defibrillators can deliver the electric shock to the heart that can make the difference between life and death and keep you alive – every second counts and there are around 20 of the devices in and around the town.

But most people don’t know where they are and, even worse, if you’re struck down late in the evening, early morning or on a Sunday, chances are you won’t get access to it.

Today the Press is urging readers to back our Take Heart campaign and ask that public access defibrillators are bought and placed in the town – for anyone to access at any time in case the very worst happens.

If it helps save just one life, it’s got to be worthwhile.

Lewis Campbell, general manager of the Scottish Ambulance Service’s East Central Division, said, “Public Access Defibrillators (PADS) make a positive contribution to safer and sustainable communities around the country.

“While we have world-class ambulance response times in Scotland, we know that in cardiac cases every second counts and that equipping communities with basic life-saving skills and equipment will further improve survival rates.” Dunfermline MSP Cara Hilton and Dunfermline and West Fife MP Douglas Chapman are backing the campaign and are raising concerns about ‘gaps’ in the public’s ability to access the life-saving devices. Hilary Warnock, of Saline First Responders (see page 7) who help communities purchase PADs in the West Fife villages, said, “I’m not impressed at all with the coverage in Dunfermline. If it’s ‘out of hours’ there doesn’t seem to be anything available.

“It needs PADs, three in the town centre would be sufficient, and the ones already in places like dentist surgeries need to be made more available to the public.

“Witnesses to a cardiac arrest need to know where the nearest defibrillators are and they need to be maintained so the battery doesn’t run out and they’re worth running for!

“And people should not be wary of using them – you can’t kill a dead man! The casualty has to be clinically dead before it will deliver a shock so you can’t do any harm.

“You can’t misuse them and they’re not worth stealing. The boxes are alarmed and they won’t do anything.” Placed in temperature-controlled boxes – so the battery does not get too hot or cold – defibrillators are easy-to-use devices that will only deliver a shock if it detects a ‘shockable’ heart rhythm.

Someone who has had a cardiac arrest, when the heart unexpectedly stops beating, will be unconscious and will not be breathing properly. Classed as clinically dead, without help the casualty generally has minutes to live.

Around 30,000 people suffer a cardiac arrest in the UK every year.

999 operators have a list and will direct the caller to the nearest defibrillator, which delivers a shock to the casualty to try to restore a normal heart rhythm and bring them back from the dead.

They will not always work but studies show a casualty has a much better chance of surviving if the device is used. Centre manager for the Kingsgate shopping centre, Neil Mackie, said, “We had a customer recently that collapsed in the centre and our own guys, together with an off-duty paramedic and an A&E nurse, kept her alive through CPR and saved her until the ambulance came.

“Unfortunately, we heard she later died in hospital. Our guys are highly trained, they have first aid qualifications and did a great job but you’re left asking if we’d had a defibrillator, would it have made a difference? You’re better to have all the tools at your disposal and to raise awareness of this issue can only be a positive.”